1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steering hanger beam.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a vehicle-body structure having a light-alloy steering support member is known. In such a structure, an airbag is mounted to the upper portion of the steering support member (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication, First Publication No. 2005-289239).
In the above-described related art, since the airbag is mounted to the upper portion of the steering support member on the basis of the steering support member, the height of an upper surface of an instrument panel increases. For this reason, for example, a passenger feels pressure, and an inclination angle of a front window glass is limited, thereby deteriorating a degree of freedom of design of the vehicle body.
Therefore, a first object of the invention is to provide a steering hanger beam capable of improving the degree of freedom of design of a vehicle body and of facilitating an arrangement of peripheral components.
Additionally, in the past, a reinforcing member which is a structure member formed by die-casting is provided in the instrument panel of the vehicle. In order to mount equipment, such as electric components to the reinforcing member, there is provided a storage portion surrounded by wall portions (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication, First Publication No. 2005-335528).
However, in the above-described reinforcing member, it is necessary to provide a plurality of wall portions in order to form the storage portion. Therefore, the reinforcing member needs to be simplified by die-casting, but becomes complicated. Additionally, in a case where a plurality of storage portions surrounded by the wall portions is provided, there is a problem in that casting defects easily occur.
Therefore, a second object of the invention is to provide a steering hanger beam (reinforcing member) capable of facilitating an arrangement of equipment, such as electric components with a simple structure and of preventing an occurrence of casting defects, even in a case where the steering hanger beam is formed by die-casting.
Furthermore, when the electric component is mounted to the storage portion, a minus terminal of a harness of the electric component needs to be grounded. Incidentally, when such a ground is carried out, since a casting surface of the reinforcing member formed by die-casting is rough, there is problem that the ground performance is lower than a case in which an ground is carried out in a flat surface of a general metal panel.
Therefore, a third object of the invention is to provide a steering hanger beam (reinforcing member) capable of improving the ground performance of electric components, even in a case where the steering hanger is formed by die-casting.